Description

Late 17th or early 18th century; restored 1819 (dated). Single chamber rectangular-plan lectern dovecot. 5.8m long by 5.4m wide. Sandstone rubble with hammer-dressed quoins. Slate roof. Ashlar skews with shouldered skewputts.

SOUTH ELEVATION: timber boarded door with hammer dressed surround to centre; projecting alighting ledge returning to rear elevation. Stone panel with initials I.C. and inscribed "Repaired 1819"; 6 round-arched flight holes breaking eaves above, surmounted by scrolled armorial pediment.

Stone steps to rear (N) elevation rising to further timber boarded door (probably added 1819).

INTERIOR: largely intact stone nesting boxes line all four interior walls from floor to ceiling.

Statement of Interest

A fine and largely intact lectern dovecot. Restored in 1819, the building has many characteristics of the classic lectern-type dovecote which began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries. The lean to roof faces south so that the birds could sit in the sun, whilst being protected from the north wind by the high back wall. The largely intact interior adds significantly to the interest.

Dovecots were a valuable source of meat and manure but also a visible symbol of the wealth and status of the landowners and burgesses. After 1617, only burgesses who had considerable lands were permitted to build dovecots.

The S entrance was blocked when the dovecot was recorded by the National Monuments Record in 1964. The dovecot is intervisible with Stratyrum House (see separate listing).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17804775

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living